


An Inch of Gold

by ASMillen



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Claire Stays in the 18th Century, F/M, Faith Fraser IS Elle Fraser, Faith Fraser Lives, Family, Family Fluff, Frank Who?, Healing, Lallybroch, Love, Original Characters - Freeform, Scotland, Sisters, The Brave Women of Outlander, The Uprising was Stopped, no roger
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:07:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASMillen/pseuds/ASMillen
Summary: Immediately upon arriving in Paris, Jamie and Claire tell Murtagh everything about Claire, the future, the Uprising, everything. With the knowledge of Culloden riding upon their shoulders, they decide to kill the Bonnie Prince as swiftly as they are able to without making him a martyr to the clans of their homeland.After spending months in Paris, France with no dramatic rescues or scheming plots, Claire delivers her baby without incident, even if the birth is a little earlier than they could've hoped. Now, they must figure out their future in a world without the Uprising as an ever-growing family.
Relationships: Brianna Fraser/OC, Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser, Elle Fraser/OC, Faith Fraser/OC, Fergus Fraser/Marsali McKimmie Fraser, Jenny Fraser/Ian Murray
Kudos: 96





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Jamie's first child arrives.
> 
> Warning for minor descriptions of birth, mostly just a short description of pain. I've never given birth before, so I didn't want to write a full description of something so pivotal that I've never personally experienced.

_Paris, France_

_17 July 1744_

The pain was complete and utter agony.

Claire screamed with all her might through clenched teeth, her face becoming a shade of red only a tomato could beat as she tried to hold back the pained moans forcing their way up her throat. Her pale hand was clenched around Jamie’s, squeezing so tightly she thought she might break his good one as terribly as the bad one.

Mother Hildegarde stood by Claire’s other side, wiping her forehead clear of sweat and grime with a white towelette while whispering words of comfort. Claire looked up into the woman’s old, wrinkled face and found peace in the calm of her eyes. There was no fear, no urgency. She wasn’t worried about the outcome of this labor.

Even after Murtagh had been dispatched to poison the good prince, making his death look like nothing more than a fatal bout of illness so as not to make him a martyr in the eyes of Scotland, they’d stayed in France, though they hadn’t spent near as much time out in public gatherings such as those wild parties in Versailles as other couples would have. Jamie had been too fearful of the stress it would bring on her pregnancy, to which Claire had reluctantly agreed, knowing that gynecology was not as well-studied in this time as it was her own. Any problem she might have ha could have very well been met with an end to the life of her child.

It was hours before she gave the final push with coaxing from both Mother Hildegarde and Jamie and she felt as if something detached from inside of her. The fire in her body calmed to a small dose of aching limbs and sore muscles. As a wave of dizziness and exhaustion washed over her, Claire was barely able to make out Mother Hildegarde’s voice saying, “C'est une fille, Madame Fraser.”

_It is a girl._

Claire let out a gasping sob as the babe was placed in her arms, feeling too small for the occasion. She had been early by close to a month, but she looked sweet and healthy against Claire’s breast. Her pale skin was still covered in blood from the womb, but Claire could see the red wisps of hair on her small head, something she’d most certainly inherited from her father, and the way her fingers and toes curled around themselves as she let loose a fierce cry.

Suddenly, as if just remembering he was there, Claire looked up at Jamie to see his eyes were rimmed with red. Tears brimmed in those fathomless orbs of sky blue as he looked down at his wife and daughter with pride and love and a number of other beautiful feelings. “She’s a bonnie lass, Sassenach,” he said in a thick tone of voice.

“She is,” Claire said softly as she stroked one of her shaking fingers across her babe’s feather-soft cheek, not minding the blood one bit. “She’s perfect.”

“Aye,” Jamie agreed as he sat down next to her as gently as he could so as not to disturb her and reached out with his own trembling hand. He cupped the back of the baby’s head and ran his thumb over the hair that would certainly resemble his own one day. “Perfect.”

“What are we going to name her?” Claire asked as one of the nurses took the babe gently away from her parents and told them she was going to clean her up before returning her. “The names we chose already—,”

Over the past couple of months, they’d chosen two names, one for a boy and one for a girl, but neither of them suited the baby now that she was real and here. Rory would not do well on a girl, not in this time. As for Blair, it just didn’t fit with their babe. Neither of them was suited for such a perfect creation.

“Aye, they do not suit such a wee angel,” Jamie said with an undertone of amazement leaking into his voice. “I have a suggestion, Sassenach, but ye dinna have to agree to it.”

“What is it?” Claire questioned as the nurse brought the babe back with no blood in sight on her pearl-white skin.

“Ellen,” Jamie replied as Claire passed the child to him and watched as he cradled her against his chest and cooed at her in Gaelic, “after my mother.”

“Ellen,” Claire repeated as she looked down at the babe. She knew the meaning of the name, “Bright, shining light,” and thought how fitting it was to the child in her husband’s arms. “We could call her Elle.”

Jamie nodded. “Ellen Janet Beauchamp Fraser has a good ring to it.”

“Aye,” Claire said with a grin, miming his typical answer to everything.

“Then it’s settled.” He beamed down at his daughter as he wrapped an arm around Claire and plopped a sweet kiss against her temple. “Welcome to the world, wee Ellen. I’ll ne’er let anything harm ye”

They stayed exactly like that through the night. The babe curled up in their arms and Claire curled up in Jamie’s. As they stared down at their baby, they knew the world around them was going to be a dangerous place for her, but they swore to themselves, God Almighty, and anything else that would stand in their way that they would do anything to keep her safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make it known that baby Ellen is Faith Fraser, but she has a different name. Canonically, Faith is named by Mother Hildegarde so that she may be buried on holy grounds. However, if Faith lives and seems healthy as a baby, Mother Hildegarde would have no reason to do that, so Jamie and Claire would, theoretically, name the child themselves. I have a feeling that Ellen would be more likely of a name from them than Faith.
> 
> So far, no archive warnings apply, but if that is to change, I will change the warnings set. I don't know where I'm going with this. I might just make it a story of shots into the life of Claire and Jamie and their family.
> 
> Also, the title is from a Chinese Proverb that goes, "An inch of time is an inch of gold, but you can't buy time with an inch of gold."


	2. Fergus Claudel Fraser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the upcoming arrival of Jamie's cousin, Jared, the Fraser family prepares to sail for Scotland, but they can't leave without a new addition to their growing family.

_ Paris, France _

_ 03 January 1745 _

“Sassenach, I’ve just received word from Jared,” Jamie announced as he walked into the room they’d made into a makeshift nursery for Elle. He clutched a sheet of paper in his large hand as he strode across the room with a chipper pep of excitement in his walk. “It seems he’ll be back sooner than we expected. Just a couple o’ days, if the letter is to be believed.”

“Well, that’s certainly good news,” Claire murmured as she finished dressing Elle in one of the sweet, silky outfits Louise had commissioned for her upon her birth. “I’m sure Jenny is just dying for us to get back so she can meet her niece.”

“Aye,” Jamie agreed as he took Elle into his arms and smiled down at her with pride twinkling in his eyes. “The she-devil has sent letters enough to fill my desk requesting we return home immediately for her to meet the wee one.”

Claire chuckled as an image of the fierce woman she’d come to think of as a sister writing dozens of letters demanding her brother return home just so she could meet a baby. “She sure is tenacious that way, isn’t she?”

Jamie didn’t answer as he began making silly faces at his daughter, smiling brightly as he coaxed little giggles from her lips. He cupped the back of her head with his hand as he spun her ‘round and ‘round until it seemed he was getting dizzy. When he noticed Claire watching with a small smile on her face, he said, “This wee bairn’s laughter is better than any song.”

Claire agreed, but she didn’t say anything as Fergus rushed into the room and began spinning a web of a tale about how he’d been late getting home because he’d stopped to help an elderly woman walk across the street. Neither Jamie nor Claire bought a bit of his story. “Uh huh, what did you steal, Fergus?”

For the better part of a year, Claire had been trying to teach the poor boy that he didn’t have to steal anymore. He had enough food to warm his belly and enough clothes to cover his body. There was always a bed for him to sleep in. Still, old habits die hard and, apparently, his old habit was determined to out-live them all.

Fergus sighed dramatically and looked up at her with wide, blue eyes. “Why does Mi’lady always assume the worst of me? I have done nothing.”

“Last week,” Claire grabbed a handful of his curled to gently tilt his head up and force him to meet her eyes as she recalled what happened the week before, “you came home with two shoes you stole off the shoulders of a beggar on the streets.”

Fergus sputtered and his mouth started to form words before he sighed and said, “You are correct, Mi’lady. I did do that one wrong thing,” he turned his head down towards the ground mournfully for only a moment before his face split into a bright smile, “but I bought what I returned with this time, I swear to you.”

Before Claire could say anything else, he pulled a florally-painted baby rattle out of his coat pocket and held it out towards Elle’s small, chubby hands. Without a second thought, the baby took it from Fergus and began shaking it with eyes wide from wonder. Soon after her awe fell away, giggles sweeter than any bird’s song filled the room. Fergus looked up at Claire with bright eyes, expecting praise of some sort, she thought.

“You did well, Fergus,” Claire said softly as she stroked a hand through his curls and tapped him lightly on the behind. “Now, better go grab something from the kitchen before they get rid of tonight’s dinner, eh?”

Fergus nodded furiously and ran out of the room with a skip in his step.

“That was sweet of him,” Jamie mumbled as he swayed back and forth, rocking Elle in his strong arms while she fiddled with her new toy. “He didna have to do that.”

A sudden feeling of sadness rushed over her as she thought of Jared’s return. They would be on their way when he came home. They’d return to Scotland, to Lallybroch, and begin their lives together as a family of three, but the family wouldn’t feel whole without the one person they would be leaving behind: Fergus.

Tears came unbidden to her eyes and she tried to push them back, but the torrent was too strong. Even several months after giving birth, at least that’s what she blamed it on, she was still much too emotional. Claire turned around and began folding some of Elle’s dresses as a cover to wipe away the tears that slipped down her cheeks with the backs of her hands.

“Claire,” Jamie said with a touch of concern in his voice, “are ye alright?”

Claire shook her head and forgot the pretense of folding clothes as she turned and buried her face in Jamie’s shirt. One of his hands, the one not occupied with the babe, swept down her back in a comforting massage. “I’m going to miss him, Jamie.”

“Who?” Jamie asked before the answer came to him. “Fergus?”

Claire nodded against his chest before pulling away. “He’s become a part of this family,” she said in a hoarse voice as she lowered her eyes, “like a-a son.”

It was a long, heavy moment before Jamie said, “Aye, I know how ye feel.”

“I was thinking that maybe, um,” she cleared her throat and glanced towards the door where Fergus had exited through, “maybe we could bring him with us. To Scotland.”

“We  _ are _ the closest the lad’s got to a family,” Jamie said as he followed her train of thought. “Nobody here would miss him or come looking for him.”

“And we’d take care of him,” Claire added. “He’d be a great addition to Lallybroch. Someone for little Jamie and Rabbie to chase around and look up to.”

“He’s so fond of wee Ellen, too.” Jamie patted their daughter’s back. “It would devastate the wee lad to have her taken from him.”

“You are so very right.”

They stared at each other for a long time, wondering if they were truly going to do this. Were they really going to bring home another mouth for Lallybroch to feed? Were they going to adopt Fergus into their household? Claire already cared for him like a son, and she knew Jamie felt the same, if not close to the same.

The moment was broken by Murtagh stepping into the room with a half-eaten apple in his hands. He glared at them beneath his bushy brows for a half-second before exclaiming, “For Christ’s sake, stop beatin’ around the bush and go tell the boy he’s comin’ wi’ us.” He took a big, crunchy bite out his apple, uncaring about the juice dripping down his chin, and left the room without another word.

“Well,” Claire smiled mischievously as she took Elle from Jamie’s arms and started out of the room, “let’s go tell him the good news.”

When they found Fergus, he was sitting at Jared’s expensive dining table with his feet propped up on the polished, wood surface and a greasy chicken leg in his dirt-laden hands. As they walked into the room, his eyes widened and he quickly removed his feet from the tabletop, nearly falling over in the process. “Mi’lord, Mi’lady, I was just eating my dinner and I got a cramp in my leg, real bad, so I was just resting it—,”

“Save it, lad,” Jamie said as he pulled up the seat next to Fergus and scuffled his hand through the boy’s wild locks. “We’re not here to discuss ye’re bad manners.”

“Though we  _ will _ be having that discussion soon,” Claire added as she glared at Fergus’ fingers, watching as shining grease dripped from each one.

Fergus smiled uneasily as he dropped the chicken on his plate and wiped his fingers on a nearby napkin. “Then what do you wish to discuss, Mi’lord? Should I watch the baby for a little while tonight?”

“Actually, Fergus, we were wanting to talk to you about what happens when we sail for Scotland upon Jared’s return,” Claire said as she rocked Elle in her arms, hoping it would put her to sleep for the next couple hours. While watching Elle’s drowsy face, she almost missed the sadness creeping across Fergus’ at her words.  _ Almost _ . “We thought you might like to accompany back to Lallybroch.”

Fergus’ eyes widened with shock and his lips made an ‘O’ in surprise. “You want me to come with you? I am shocked, Mi’lady.”

Jamie chuckled and reached out to pinch Fergus’ cheek teasingly. “I think ye would like Lallybroch. There are some boys ye’re own age to play with and lots of room to run around.”

“What kind of work would I be doing there?” Fergus asked thoughtfully, obviously trying to figure out what a pickpocket would do on a large farm. “I admit, I do not see much use for my skills there, Mi’lord.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be our pickpocket there, Fergus,” Claire said softly as she reached across the table and laid her hand across his own. “You’d be our son, if you wanted to be.”

Fergus’ eyes widened almost comically as the words hit him. He looked about as shocked as Claire was by this revelation. When Jamie had brought home the young boy, she hadn’t thought much about it, even though Jamie had sworn he would be useful in keeping track of any correspondences King James might’ve sent to France after his son’s death. There had only been one, yet they’d kept the boy on anyways. He’d stolen from the Duke of Sandringham, too, but there hadn’t been much cause for him after the prince’s death They’d kept him around simply because they liked him, nothing more, nothing less.

It shouldn’t have been too surprising that they wanted to make him a permanent fixture to their household, but it seemed it was to everyone involved, including the boy himself.

“Mi’lord, Mi’lady, I am touched, truly,” Fergus said in a low voice, one that trembled with the weight of several emotions. “I cannot tell you enough how much I want to be your son and Elle’s brother.”

“Then it’s settled.” Claire stood and came around the table to plant a kiss atop his head. “You’ll travel with us when we return to Scotland, and we’ll introduce you to the world as Fergus Claudel Fraser, our son.”

“Aye,” Jamie agreed.

They left the room, giving Fergus some time to work through his emotions, but, before they left, Claire glanced over her shoulder and said, “I’d learn to keep my feet off the table if I were you or your new aunt might box your ears when we go home.”

Fergus smiled smally, though he was clearly still lost in thought. “Yes, Mi’lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although I am diverging from the canon storyline which brought Fergus to the Frasers, AKA trying to spy on Prince Charles, I couldn't leave Fergus out of the story. I love him too much! So, Fergus was hired by Jamie to keep an eye on King James' correspondences after his son, Charles, died.
> 
> P.S., If I wasn't clear enough in the first chapter, Charles WAS killed by Murtagh using a type of poison that made it look like he was taken by an illness that way he couldn't start the rebellion, but he also coudn't be made a martyr by someone obviously taking his life. I figured that if Claire could fake a smallpox outbreak, she could certainly fake a fatal illness using poison.


End file.
